Many people who are somehow faced with electrical and electronic circuits are interested in knowing what they are made of. One of the most common elements is a transistor. So what is a transistor?
This is such a semiconductor device, which is designed to amplify and control electric current. But this definition does not give a clear understanding of what a transistor is.
This device is available as a discrete component in various individual cases or as an active element in the so-called integrated circuits. In them, the transistor case size may be less than a few hundredths of a millimeter.
What is a transistor in terms of its use in various fields of industry and electronics? Since this device quite easily adapts to the most diverse conditions of use, it has completely replaced the old electronic lamps by now, in fact leaving the lamp technology in the distant past with a few exceptions. Based on the use of transistor technology, a whole broadest area of the technological industry has formed - semiconductor electrical engineering (this includes the production and operation of devices such as gas-discharge and electric-vacuum devices, semiconductor equipment, etc.).
To fully understand the issue of what a transistor is, you need to look a little into the history of its application. For example, it is known that the first transistor-based consumer product was a hearing aid. It appeared on sale in the middle of the last century. In terms of industrial applications, initially transistor technology was used for telephone switching.
Today, these devices are used everywhere because the parameters of the transistor and its characteristics are really unique and diverse. It is necessary to mention the use of these electronic devices in multi-transistor integrated circuits, in radio engineering, in televisions and tape recorders, calculators, in children's toys. Transistor technology is widely used in security and fire alarm systems, in game consoles, in various controllers (from power controllers in heavy industry and locomotives to light controllers).
What is a transistor and its application in modern digital technology? This is a very advanced invention, which is used, for example, in a transistorized fuel injection system, ignition, control and regulation system on microcircuits ( microprocessor technology and microcontrollers), as well as in digital clocks and cameras.
But the most impressive changes were made by the transistor in communication and data processing systems. It is used on central exchanges, in large computers. The development of space technology and space flights would simply be impossible without the use of transistor technology. For them, in military affairs (for air and ground surveillance) even special semiconductor intermetallic elements have been developed.